I Wonder
by MutantOctopus
Summary: A series of oneshots based around my OC, Amadeus.  Read my other MLP story, The Shadow, to know more about him.  Various ponderings about his life, essentially.
1. What Your First Art Was

**Welcome, readers. Following the frankly unexpected success of my last My Little Pony 'fic, The Shadow, I made a short little story, inspired by the "Cutie Mark Chronicles" episode. I figure that _something_ must've happened for Amadeus' freaky art talents, right? Anyway, this story'll be a side story, made of oneshots, often answering little nagging questions. I wonder if it'll be as good as The Shadow...**

**Disclaimer: I only own Amadeus.**

…

"I wonder what your first piece of art was..." Twilight muttered to herself.

"... Most ponies would I think I used too many cool colors for this kind of picture, but that's the beauty of it. The excited mood's still there, while all I used for warm colors was a splash of yellow here and there, a little bit of red in this area... Orange over here..."

Amadeus was rambling on and on about one of his paintings, not noticing that Twilight had slipped away to look at some other things or that she had said something. She opened a drawer full of various papers, each one with a different picture on it.

"Hey, Amadeus, what was your first piece of art?"

"And really, I- Hm? What was that? My first piece? Ah, yes, interesting story to that one. It was-"

"Amadeus..."

"Right, right, sorry," He said, cantering over to another cabinet setup. He pulled over a step to reach the top-left drawer and pulled out the back-most folder. He blew some dust off of it, and pulled out the paper in the very back of said folder. He brushed it off.

"Ah, yes, this old thing. There's a real story to this one," He said, setting it down. It was a bright rainbow ring above Ponyville, painted from somewhere above. It wasn't the quality he was working at at the present, but spectacular for a first piece.

"This is your _first_ painting?"

"Not just painting, first piece of art I _ever made_. Strange, eh? Could tell you about it, if you want..."

Before Twilight made any sort of response, he went on rambling.

"It was back when I was no more than a colt..."

…

"_Odd as it may seem, I was never good at art before this picture. I loved it and all, but every time I tried it, I failed spectacularly. Play the piano? Break the keys. Try to paint? Big blob of color on paper. Carving? Sculpting? Writing? If it was art, I was horrible at it. Anyway, it was in school..."_

"Hey, hey, how's the artist today?" The school bully said.

Amadeus remained silent.

"Whadja mess up this time?"

Silence.

"Heard you knocked over a statue. Just before it was finished, too!"

Silence.

"So, what'cha doin' now? Oh, what's this? A drawing? Looks horrible. Like all your other art. Just give up, you know you can't win. I'm not gonna waste time with you."

With that, he trotted off conceitedly.

_"I didn't want to admit it, but that picture really _was_horrible."_

"Oh, don't let him get on your nerves."

"_Enter Nyodima. That's pronounced Nie-oh-dee-mah. She was a few years older, but was like a big sister to me. She was tall, I can tell you that. Dark blue coat, bright yellow mane. The contrast in color was spectacular. Had a horseshoe magnet for a cutie mark, and for good reason; She had magnetic properties. Her mane stood up on end due to the static, and she'd often have to be picking paperclips out of her coat. Real fun at parties, too; If a wall was a ferromagnetic metal, she could walk up it a few feet. She was-"_

_"What happened to her? She sounds nice. She couldn't have left you."_

_"... She didn't, um... Well, from what I heard, she... Well, I don't know if it's true, but, well... Um, her father was a lumberjack, and on bring your daughter to work day, she got a... A bit too close to a, um, running chainsaw, and sort of... Died. To elaborate, the chainsaw-"_

_"I get it! I get it! … Thanks for putting that image in my head."_

_"You're welcome. Anyway..."_

Amadeus looked up at her solemnly, then back at his picture.

"I'm sure you'll get it right sometime. He's just a jerk. Don't let him bug you. He teases me all the time about what happened with the science fair a while back, and I just ignore him."

"Yeah, but with me, he has a point; _I can't do anything!_ With you, he's just bringing up a stupid thing. Me, I can't paint or sculpt or carve! He's right!"

"No he isn't! You just haven't gotten it right yet. You'll get it right if you try hard enough."

The bell rang.

"Oops, we need to get to class! See ya, Amadeus!"

With that, she trotted off, while Amadeus sauntered off for his worst class: Art.

"_Now, in art, I would usually just stare out the window and scratch randomly at a paper with a quill. To this day, I'm glad I would look out that window, down at the towns below..."_

Amadeus made random lines on his paper and watched the clouds go over the towns. He wondered how many people down there were _good_ artists. He wondered if he would ever be like some artists he had seen. He wondered why he was such a failure.

While contemplating, he saw a sparkle. A glimmer, barely noticeable, above a town to the right. Just after that, he saw a bright ring spread from the sparkle.  
>And then, something clicked in him.<p>

He pulled a paper off the shelf and started drawing the scene he just saw before it went away. When he was satisfied with the outline, he pulled the paints over and started working furiously. One of the ponies glanced up and watched the usually uncooperative pony. His friends watched when they noticed, too. Even the teacher herself wandered over to see what he was working on.

And then, it was finished. The ring above the town, just as he had seen it. That day, he received the pair of gears that was his cutie mark, and an unusual talent for art. His mane gained music notes and started fluctuating with his mood, and his tail changed its shape to its current one.

…

"And I think that the gears were picked because gears relate to thinking, and thinking relates to creativity, and creativity relates to art. So, yeah, that's my first piece of art and how it happened."

"Interesting..." Twilight muttered. Amadeus glanced at her curiously.

"Interesting? Why interesting?"

"Well, all six of us got out cutie marks by Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. You? You got your cutie mark from the inspiration it gave you. And we all met each other eventually..."

"Coincidence?" Amadeus wondered, "Or maybe it was fate? Nopony'll ever know, so let's not waste time worrying. Anyway, back to the other painting. I think the stars here were the most detailed part..."


	2. What's In Here

**Welcome, readers. Remember the Cupcakes book Amadeus locked away at the end of The Monster? Yeah, Pinkie finds that. Since she mentions a couple things that happen in the book in the end, despite that they're brief and not detailed, I don't suggest the faint of heart to read this. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Disclaimer: I own only Amadeus.**

…

"I wonder what's in here!" Pinkie said, yanking open the closet doors. Inside, she saw a safe. She found her way into the safe, and found a locked box with "DO NOT OPEN" written on it. She used a nearby metal pin to pick the lock. Inside the box was _another_ box with a strange puzzle on it. Above was "you really don't want to see what's in here." She solved the puzzle and opened the next boss. Inside _that_ box was a tangle of rope with a knot, no ends exposed, holding yet another box closed. She undid the knot, and found a chained-up, black book inside, with "Cupcakes" written in brass letters. Her eyes widened.

"It's like some sort of super secret!" She mused, picking the keyhole on the padlock keeping the chains from falling apart. The book had a piece of lying on the front.

_You must be really desperate to read this, hm? Well, if you really must, go ahead. I won't stop you. Just don't say I didn't warn you._

She disregarded the note entirely and bounced off, book in tow.

"Thanks for the book, Amadeus!" She said as she passed the unicorn that was rearranging some pictures. He nodded, unfocused, and continued.

When she left, he thought, _Wait, which book? Oh, gosh, I hope it isn't..._

He looked over at the closet and sighed. He shook his head and resumed fixing the painting.

…

Pinkie bounced up to her room and sat down on the bed. She opened up to the first page.

…

Rainbow Dash was doing several tricks in the sky. Oh, how she loved the speed, the adrenaline, the wind in her mane.

However, this was interrupted by crashing into Pinkie during a low-flying period.

"OHMYGOSH! Rainbow Dash! I've been looking all over for you! You're fine, right? I haven't given you drugged cupcakes, _right?_ I don't have cutie mark clothing and a unicorn horn necklace and pegasus wing decorations in my basement, _**right?**_ I haven't _cut you open and used your intestines as a feather boa and let you bleed out and die a painful, painful death, **all the while keeping my bubbly personality and referring to the entire thing as a party**_, _**RIGHT?"**_

Rainbow Dash took a few scared steps back.

"Pinkie... You're freakin' me out here..." She said to the noticeably freaked-out pink pony, who frantically started checking over Rainbow Dash. After looking at about every possible inch of Rainbow Dash, appropriate or inappropriate, she sighed and calmed down.

"Good. No stitches or anything, and you're still alive. I was so worried!" Pinkie said, throwing herself Rainbow Dash in a hug. After a couple awkward seconds, she stepped back from Rainbow Dash.

"Wellp, I'll be seein' you!" Pinkie said and bounced off as she usually did, leaving Rainbow Dash there, eye twitching and advising herself to never eat Pinkie's cupcakes. Ever.


	3. Where I Am

**Welcome back, readers. After my brief (?) hiatus, I'm writing up a new chapter for this thing. This chapter, in question, introduces another character. Let's see if you can guess who she is before you see her name.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Amadeus and the character introduced here.**

…

"I wonder where I am..."  
>The pony looked up from the map and at the town she had approached. Sure, it wasn't a real big town, but it was inhabited. She looked back at the map and continued walking into the town.<br>"I... I think this town is... Ponyville, I think? Maybe? Yeah, I think this is Ponyville. I'm pretty sure I took this path over here, and-"

She ran into another pony while distracted by the map.  
>"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't-"<br>The pony gasped and zoomed off, faster than one would expect, in a blur of pink before her features could even be made out. The lost pony, meanwhile, fixed her mussed-up mane. It worked for a second, but then stood up straight as she looked back at the map.

…

"Pinkie, where are we going?" Twilight asked the excited pony that was dragging her along by the hoof.  
>"We're gonna go meet a new pony! I know she's new, because-"<br>"You know everyone in Ponyville and haven't seen her before. So, who is-"  
>Twilight's sentence was interrupted by a metallic bang. A navy blue pony stumbled backwards out of a nearby alley with a metal bucket over her head, a frying pan on her hoof, and some silverware stuck in her mane. She tried to push the bucket off, but it was to be stuck good.<br>"That's her! That's her, right over there!" Pinkie said, bouncing and pointing excitedly. Twilight went over to the pony.  
>"Are you okay?"<br>The pony sat down and stopped trying to pull off the bucket.  
>"Yup. I just have a bucket stuck to my head. Don't worry, this has happened before."<br>"Can I help get it off?"  
>"Well, if it isn't a bother, sure. But really, I'm not your problem, so it's not a big deal. I'll get it off on my own eventually. You have someone with you? It'll take a few ponies to push this thing off."<br>"Yeah, I do. Hey, Pinkie, can you help with this?"  
>"Sure! Help with what?"<br>"Really, Pinkie?" Twilight groaned sarcastically, "We're going to get this bucket off her head."  
>"Oh. I knew that!"<br>After much straining, the three managed to get the bucket off. The blue pony shook off some dust and attended to the frying pan.  
>"Hey, am I in Ponyville, by any chance?" She asked, using her three free hooves to push off the pan.<br>"Yeah. Are you lost or something?"  
>"Actually, yes, I am. But, y'know, this place looks kinda nice. I think I might just settle down here."<br>"What's your name?"

While trying to untangle a fork from her tail, she responded, "Neodyma. You?"  
>"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Pinkie Pie."<br>After a few seconds' delay, Twilight's mind clicked, and she remembered where she had heard the pony's name before.

"Have you ever known someone named Amadeus?" She asked.  
>"Amadeus? The art colt? Oh, yeah, I knew him. He was nice, but after the whole paint incident..."<br>"Paint incident?"  
>The pony finished cleaning the metal off herself and stood up. She was a good few inches taller than the other two, not even counting for her mane that refused to stay down.<br>"Yeah. After I moved away, I heard from a pony that used to be at the same school I was at before I moved that he'd accidentally gotten poisoned by some paint."  
>"You moved away? Funny. He said that he heard you got..." She swallowed a little, "Well, ripped apart by a chainsaw."<br>"That? Oh, funny how stories get messed up through the grapevine! See, that _almost_ happened. Luckily, it hit a tree before it hit me. Then Mom and Dad decided we'd move away so he could get a job with fewer dangerous things to get attracted by me. Never got to say goodbye to anyone, so I guess the misunderstanding is, um, understandable. Oh, if you don't know, I'm-"  
>"Magnetic? Amadeus told me."<br>"Amadeus? Is he... Is he here or something?"

"He is!" Pinkie interjected. "Up there in the scary-looking place on the big hill!"

"Oh! Oh, how lucky. I can't wait to see him again! Catch up on what happened! Can you take me there? That is, if it isn't too much of a problem. If you have better things to do, that's fine."  
>"You remind me of Fluttershy." Pinkie said bluntly.<br>"Who?"

"We'll have you meet her and the others, but first I think you want to meet Amadeus." Twilight said, nudging Pinkie to get her to stop dragging on the conversation.

…

Ding-dong.  
>Amadeus finished a line, then set down his paintbrush and went to get the door.<br>"Hello? Oh, hi, Twilight! How impeccably timed! I've started a painting, but I'm at a loss as to where to go with it. Could I get an opinion, mm-yes no?"  
>"Actually, Amadeus, there's someone we think you want to see first."<br>Twilight and Pinkie stepped aside, putting Neodyma in view. Amadeus' eyes widened.  
>"Neodyma? Is that really you? Oh, gosh, it's been so long! I swear I heard you'd died! Forget the painting, let's catch up, shall we? Thanks, Twilight! Anyway, so I met Twilight and friends the other day..."<br>Twilight and Pinkie started walking away, knowing they weren't really going to be important to the conversation. Each pony was thinking a different thing.  
>Twilight was thinking of how happy she felt that she had reunited some old friends, and was even formulating a letter to Celestia. <em>Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned...<em>

Pinkie, on the other hand, was formulating a party.


End file.
